A Fine Mess of Dukes
by Elenhin
Summary: The Dukes gathers in Hazzard, and that means all the Dukes and some Davenports as well, to make the mess as messy as possible....
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **This story was thought out while me and a friend was having our movie night, and she requested a story that would hold all the Dukes in it. It took some doing, but here they are, every single Duke that I know off, and a bunch of Davenports as well. I hope you all will enjoy it.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix….

* * *

_**A Fine Mess of Dukes**_

Chapter 1: And So They Gather

"Boss, how come yer so happy?" Rosco asked cautiously as he saw the grin on Boss Hogg's face.

"Because Rosco, the lovely and gracious Loretta Lynn is out on a tour, and I just found out she is going to stop by here." Boss grinned. "I reckon she remembers how I saved her from them kidnappers and wants to show her gratitude."

"Oh, I bet she does," Rosco cooed happily.

"And if that's the case, we can use that," Boss grinned as he could hear the cash box clinking in his head. "Rosco, we are going to make some money here."

"How?" Rosco wanted to know.

"She's a country girl ain't she, always wanting to help everyone else," Boss stated. "So while she's here, were gonna ask her to play to raise money to the Hazzard county orphanage, girls like her always wanna do things like that."

"But how's that gonna make us money?" Rosco asked unable to make the connection.

"Because, the money we raise are gonna be stolen," Boss stated with his eyes gleaming.

"Oh, I love that," Rosco grinned. "Stolen by whom?"

Boss refused to get side tracked, he had a money raising opportunity and was going to make certain he raised money for himself.

* * *

"Anything good in the mail?" Bo asked as he came in through the kitchen door and dipped his hand into the jar on the counter, fishing out a chocolate chip cookie.

"Checking, anything good in the cookie jar?" Luke didn't even bother to look at his cousin as he went through the few envelopes. There was the usual number of bills, a couple of letters for Daisy, car magazine for Bo, and a letter for him. Passing the magazine over his shoulder he opened the letter.

"Hey, it's from Jud," he grinned as soon as he saw who it was that was writing him.

"What's he say?" Bo dropped his magazine to read over Luke's shoulder as he read through the letter. "He's coming here?" Luke's little brother Jud had only been to the farm twice so far, both times it had been surprise visits as he had found himself close by. Now it seemed he had planned in a visit and was letting them know in advance.

"Yeah," Luke didn't bother to scold him for reading his letter. It wasn't as if Bo would care, and it wasn't like he cared that he did it either.

The rest of the family was just as excited to hear that Jud was coming by, and that wasn't just Jesse, Daisy and Cooter. Once Daisy had let Coy and Vance know, they declared that they were gonna come for a visit as well, and Jeb-Stuart with them since neither of them had met Jud before but were all eager to. After all, Jud Kane, as ironic as it might sound, was a Duke just the same as them. Cooter in turn leaked that news out to his own cousins, L.B and B.B and they quickly decided that it might be a good time to drop by as well. Grinning Cooter figured it was the perfect time for a complete family reunion and invited his own daughter. As he told the others, that way, everyone would be able to meet everyone else, and then everyone would know each others and that should make things a lot easier in the future.

It was hard to say who was the most excited, but it might just have been about everyone because no one arrived when they had said they would. Jeb-Stuart showed up about three days early with Coy and Vance in tow. In spite of Jeb using his old motorbike the boys just wasn't able to pass him on the narrow road. By that time, B.B and L.B was already in town and helping out with the garage. The not to large establishment was quite crowded, thought it did seem to mean that no car stayed there long as there was plenty of people who could work on each car.

Nancy-Lou hadn't been sure exactly which day she would come, but Daisy was ready for her. They had decided that with Cooter's two cousins there, the Davenport farm was going to be a bit too much of a bachelor's paradise for her, and so Daisy had offered to share her room with the young girl.

The last one to get there was Jud, but when he did the farm was quickly crowding over. Luke was the first one out to greet his brother, he and Bo had purposely kept to the farm rather than tear up the roads in their free time, just to make sure that they would be there when he finally arrived. Bo had enjoyed the waiting time as it gave him an opportunity to tease his cousin for being impatient.

Sleeping arrangements was simple, boys in the boys room, and with Nancy-Lou with Daisy, that was it. Jesse had sent the boys out boar hunting and Jud was greeted by a real Duke style barbeque, to which the Davenports had contributed beer and plates. Knowing from some of Jesse's complaints that only six plates had survived the Duke boys childhood years.

"Is it just me, or are there more of ya this time?" Jud asked as Luke released him from the first welcome hug and he looked around.

"There's a few here you ain't met yet," Luke admitted. "But it's all family. Them two over there's Coy an' Vance, they're yer cousins."

"They kinda remind me of someone else," Jud grinned as he noticed a few similarities between his older brother, Bo, and now the second pair of teamed up cousins.

"The fella over there is Jeb-Stuart Duke," Luke went on as Coy and Vance had moved in to great him. "He's a bit strange, don't really take to cars, I think they's got more wheels than he can handle so he keeps to his bike instead." He laughed as Jeb shook hands with Jud before pulling him in for a hug, then tackled Luke to the ground as a revenge for the insult.

Nancy-Lou who had just arrived with the Davenport cousins looked a bit worried by the rough housing. They had quickly learnt that she wasn't used to anything like that, but she was adapting quite well and had realized that things in Hazzard just wasn't like most other places.

"He's our favorite boy cousin," Luke grinned as he and Jeb climbed back to their feet.

"I already know that greasy one," Jud grinned at Cooter. "Sure has got one pretty little lady with him."

"Nice to see ya again Jud, the little lady's Nancy-Lou an' she's my daughter so ya had better watch yerself."

"Yer serious?" Jud teased. "She's way to pretty to be yer daughter." He grinned as he shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet ya Nancy-Lou."

"It's fun to meet Daddy's friends," Nancy-Lou told him. "He's a good man, even if he is a bit dirty," she added just to tease her father.

B.B and L.B introduced themselves and by then Jesse was calling them all to eat. The wooden table outside the house was covered in food, but there was no place there to sit and eat, so everyone just found a spot on the ground to sit.

"Here Nancy-Lou," Cooter smiled as he spread a blanket out on the ground for her and Daisy. "So ya won't have to get that purty dress dirty."

"Thanks Daddy," she kissed him on the cheek before dropping down on the blanket where Jesse joined the two girls, claiming the right of age to a comfortable spot.

"I had no idea I was from such a big family," Jud confided in Luke as they found their own spot to enjoy their dinner in.

"Don't get like this very often," Luke explained to him. "Most off the time, it's kinda dull, but all the others wanted to meet ya, so when they heard ya were coming, they dropped by as well."

"I used to think that I didn't have any family except my mother," Jud admitted. "It wasn't too bad, but I kinda like this."

Luke darkened a bit at the mentioning of Jud's mother. True, the woman had never meant no harm, and she had raised Jud well and treated him good. She had never really done any harm except when she took him from the hospital during the fire, and Luke knew that if she hadn't done that, his little brother would have died in the fire as he was believed to have done. Yet it was hard for him to have any kinder thoughts for the woman who had taken his baby brother.

"I'm here now Luke," Jud whispered and Luke nodded. Yeah, Jud was there with them now, and he was happy for it.

"Best thing with a big family is ya always know that someone will be there for ya," Bo offered up as he stole a chicken club from Luke's plate. It might look like an act of greed and hunger, but it was really a well calculated act for Luke's sake. No one knew Luke as well as Bo did, and he made use of it whenever he got into one of the darker moods he was sometimes prone to. Bo was convinced his cousin was just too serious sometimes.

"Give that back!" Luke demanded in mock anger. The rest of the family was in festive mood leaning towards slightly rowdy, and he let that feeling come over him as Bo made a big affair out of eating the piece of chicken. Jesse let them go on and fool around as Luke started chasing after Bo.

Nancy-Lou gave a startled yelp as they ran almost on top of her, and Cooter simply stuck out his foot and tripped them. Bo crashed to the ground, and Luke was unable to stop, coming down on top of him while Cooter calmly kept laughing as if he had no idea what had happened.

"Better watch yourself there," Jeb called out as he refilled his plate.

"Might be better to watch Cooter," Bo grinned as he brushed the dirt from his jeans. "Uncle Jesse, are we having any desert?"

"What makes ya think we would?" Jesse asked smiling to himself.

"The fact that there're two chocolate cakes on the counter in the kitchen," Vance pointed out. "They sure do look like desert."

"Chocolate cake?" Jud shone up. He remembered his uncle's cooking from his previous visits, but he had not yet gotten his chocolate cake, and he was sure looking forward to it.

Daisy followed Coy and Vance inside to bring out everything and soon they were all seated with the desert. The two cakes had looked awful big when they were brought out, but since most of the people gathered were hungry boys with a seemingly endless appetite it didn't take long before only crumbs remained.

"Looks like the dishes are left for us," Daisy giggled to Nancy-Lou as she regarded the boys. None of them looked quite ready to wash dishes as they were all stretched out and half asleep in the yard.

Bo and Jeb had made an attempt to be the young and cute ones and picked a cousin each to use as a pillow, which meant that Coy and Vance was effectively pinned down, especially since Coy had Jeb's head pillowed on his belly and was leaning against Vance, using his shoulder for the same purpose. Luke and Jud had their heads together on the ground and were talking quietly with each other, making up for lost time no doubt.

Cooter and his two cousins was sitting and tossing various small twigs and pebbles towards the boys under the oak tree to see if they could disturb them enough to get up. Bo, Coy and Jeb were all three too used to similar things that their older cousins might do, and Vance was too pinned down to bother about it.

Later that evening Jesse made them mugs of hot chocolate before they went to bed, and then the boys spread out. Cooter took L.B and B.B with him home, but Nancy-Lou stayed at the Duke farm to share Daisy's room. The rest of the boys bunked in Bo and Luke's room and Jesse didn't bother to wonder how they determined who'd get a bed and who'd have to settle for sleeping bags on the floor. He simply told them that he wanted quiet in ten minutes and then closed the door as they were preparing to bed down.

"I'll flip ya for it," Bo offered Vance as he stood beside his so far not taken bed. Jud had taken Luke's after Luke pressed him to do it, and Coy was already in his sleeping bag.

"Don't think I'll bother to," Vance grinned.

"Don't mind if I take it then?" Bo grinned, not having looked forward to sleeping on the floor.

"I don't, Luke might," Vance chuckled and headed for his sleeping bag.

"What?" Bo frowned as he turned around and saw Luke in his bed.

"Night cousin, get the light will ya?" Luke grinned.

"Yer not gonna pull that again," Bo warned, he hadn't noticed Luke claiming the bed, but Luke could move really quiet when he wanted. It was easier to sleep on the floor than to fight him for it, so he turned off the light, stumbled on Jeb, stepped on Coy, managed to hit Luke and then find his sleeping bag over in the far corner, grinning to himself over the muttered insults his cousins uttered in the darkness.

**TBC**

_Please review, the Cricket is hungry….._


	2. The Whole Mess of Them

**Author's Note: **This story was thought out while me and a friend was having our movie night, and she requested a story that would hold all the Dukes in it. It took some doing, but here they are, every single Duke that I know off, and a bunch of Davenports as well. I hope you all will enjoy it.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix….

* * *

_**A Fine Mess of Dukes**_

_Chapter 2: The Whole Mess of Them_

Luke had gone out into the barn to look for Jud and found him pounding away at the sand bag that Luke kept out there. Still fighting as a boxer Jud had brought his glows with him and as a previous boxer who sometimes missed it, Luke watched his performance and offered a few tips. It wasn't really that he knew it better than Jud, but it let them talk about something they both had in common.

"Spar with me," Jud suddenly grinned.

"What?" Luke asked confused.

"Ya got yer gloves hanging right there, get them on and spar with me," Jud grinned.

"I'm not fighting anymore," Luke shook his head. "Sorry Jud."

"Why not?" Jud asked, sitting down beside him.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Luke explained, he could still feel the fear he felt when that fella he knocked down didn't get back up.

"Luke, I do this for a living, I search for people to try and beat the stuffing out of me. Ya couldn't hurt me, but it would sure be great to get to spar with my big brother, just once."

Jud had something in common with Bo, Luke decided as his blonde cousin helped him to tie on the gloves. Luke found it absolutely impossible to turn him down. The rest of the Dukes, as well as all the Davenports that had made it back for the day settled down to watch. Cooter quietly telling Nancy-Lou about where Luke and Jud had learnt to box, and about the time Boss Hogg had forced Luke into boxing. Explaining with a smile that it hadn't been hard for Luke to knock him out when he helped him practice.

With Luke and Jud neither one really had a weight advantage, and they were similar in their body shapes. Luke held back since he was worried about hurting his brother, but Jud slowly coaxed him on, tempting and teasing as the two danced around each others, feinted, and struck. Jesse winced as he watched a few of the hits, but even though he could see some bruises start to form the two boys was grinning and he had to admit that he was enjoying watching.

Jud ducked and Luke sidestepped, Luke hit and Jud blocked, Jud connected a right and Luke countered with a left. They laughed as B.B and L.B scrambled out of the way as they danced to the side and Jud had Luke working harder now. When he was fighting Catfish Luke had feared two things, that he'd get hurt, and that he'd hurt his opponent. Jesse had put him straight pointing out that there was no way he could have it both ways, winning without hurting, and Luke had taken the fight to the next level knocking the fellow down for the ten count. With Jud, he didn't need to guard himself the same way, and while he controlled his punches, he was still aiming to win, the same as Jud was. They didn't hit to hurt, but to win. The rules were in accordance to the rules that would apply to any real fight, but no one really had to enforce them.

Luke was the first one to go down, but it was more due to the fact that Bo didn't move out of the way fast enough than it was to how hard Jud hit. The boys started counting to ten just the same, even if they only reached three before he was up again.

Next one down was Jud, but it was because he tripped while ducking Luke's right and then they had to take a short break to clear out the chickens from their boxing ring before the fighters tripped over them again. A really poorly made ring Bo complained as it had no corners. Coy and Jeb made a small attempt at being corner poles, but quickly found that they had to duck out of the way too often to be any effective.

"Get him Luke," Bo cheered happily. "Come on Jud, knock him out."

"Shouldn't ya pick one or the other of them?" Cooter asked him with a sly grin.

"Nope, can't cheer against my cousin now can I?" Bo grinned.

In the end neither of them won, they broke off when they were both too worn out to continue. "Starting to feel like a good idea to go skinny dipping don't it?" Luke suggested with a grin as Bo helped him to get the gloves off before doing Jud the same favor.

"Sure does, there's a salt water lake in these here glows," Bo made a disgusted face as he pretended to wring them out.

"Swim sure sounds good though, why don't we?" Jud asked as he wiped the sweat off his face with a towel that Nancy-Lou handed him.

"Sure don't see no reason not to, lets go," Jeb cried out as he headed for his bike while the rest of them ran for their cars instead. Jesse shook his head as the boys took off. Not one of them was able to sit still for two minutes, always on the run. Still with the lot of them out of the way he could fix up dinner together with Nancy-Lou and Daisy.

Bo, Luke and Jud were in the lead with the General Lee as they headed for the pond. Jeb was keeping a mixed position as he weaved his bike between the cars. Coy and Vance used the yellow mustang they had come in while the Davenport boys had all three took the tow truck.

"Luke, ain't that Rosco's favorite speed trap up ahead?" Bo asked as he saw a nice shaded spot between the trees.

"Sure are," Luke grabbed the CB mic. "Hey y'all, wanna have some fun?" A chorus of shouted 'ye haws' answered him over the air and he grinned. "Left and right fellas, Cooter, ya got the point," he instructed. Bo cut off to the right on a small dirt road while Coy took the next fork to the left and Jeb cut out across the terrain. Cooter continued where he was and went past the speed trap where Rosco wasted no time in taking after him.

"I got ya now Cooter," he chuckled to himself as he chased after the tow truck. Then he had to step on the brake as a motorbike shot out through the trees right in front of him. As he looked for where the bike had come from, not to mention gone off to, he had to swerve as he met a yellow mustang head on. Having lost sight of the tow truck he looked around as he speed on down the road, and jumped near clear through the roof of his squad car as a horn blared from behind him and the tow truck he was looking for muscled past him. Muttering gibberish under his breath Rosco stepped on the accelerator when something thudded down on his roof, and a motor bike skimmed down over his hood to continue after the tow truck. Once more, he was thrown forward as he came down on the break, then took off after the offender. This time the mustang came from behind him, but as Rosco made to block him he looked up at a familiar sound, hearing the dixie horn and seeing an orange car come towards him head on Rosco swerved again, avoiding both collision and the road.

"Heck Rosco," Luke called out as Rosco resurfaced in the pond where his car bobbed around a moment before sinking. "Why didn't ya just tell us ya wanted to go skinny dipping with us?"

"I'll get ya, I'll get ya an' I'll cuff ya an' stuff ya," Rosco threatened.

"I'll swing by on the way back an' fish ya out of there," Cooter promised with a laugh as they headed out. Since the pond was now occupied by Rosco they decided that it was probably best to head for another pond where they would have more privacy.

In the meantime Boss Hogg was busy putting his plan together. Going through his little black book to find the phone numbers of someone he could use. Since he couldn't use anyone who had been involved in the schemes that went wrong, that kind of limited the selection somewhat. Still he found a couple and called them up asking that they came to Hazzard County.

He was also letting all of Hazzard know about the concert that he was going to hold when Loretta Lynn came, and let out the word he was looking for some other entertainment as well. Someone remembered that Jud Kane was a boxer and Boss quickly managed to convince him into lending his skills. Jud knew about Boss Hogg, but he hadn't seen enough of him to be as distrusting as the other Dukes, and it seemed like a just cause to him. As long as they came up with an opponent for him, he agreed to fight, and Boss was sure that he could figure out a way to win.

The boys headed back to the farm when they were done skinny dipping and soon found themselves hard at work as Jesse started telling them what chores needed to be done. It did get a lot of work done when all of them was at it.

**TBC**

_Please review, the Cricket is hungry…_


	3. I'll Race Ya

**Author's Note: **This story was thought out while me and a friend was having our movie night, and she requested a story that would hold all the Dukes in it. It took some doing, but here they are, every single Duke that I know off, and a bunch of Davenports as well. I hope you all will enjoy it.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix….

* * *

_**A Fine Mess of Dukes**_

_Chapter 3: I'll Race Ya_

Rosco giggled to himself as he explained his perfect plan to his loyal henchmen, they were loyal as long as he paid them, which meant they might not be loyal for very long. Rosco however was always his trusted servant, and remained that way, paid or not. As much as the Duke boys disliked Boss Hogg and his schemes, it had always been Luke's opinion Boss Hogg outsmarted himself by always cheating Rosco. The way he saw it, Rosco might work harder if he got a bigger cut of the cake, but it was something he made sure he never told Boss.

At this point Boss Hogg was busy planning how to get hold of all the money. He had already decided to have the cash from the concert stolen, but he wanted the money from the boxing as well. The best way he could see was to have Jud Kane compromised before the fight. Since it was a well known fact he was a Duke, everyone would be betting on him, and if he could keep Jud from winning, he would collect all the money. It seemed pretty simple. There was not a whole lot of boxers in the area, Luke Duke being the other one, and Boss knew he needed something to hold that boy to if he was to have any chance of getting him to fight. Even with the threat of losing the farm hanging over him, Luke Duke had dug in his heels and not wanted to fight.

As it was, one of the men he had hired would be getting up in the ring, and was receiving some basic training for it. Still, while he was good at holding his ground in a bar room brawl and could take a lot of punches, Boss Hogg knew his man didn't really stand a chance against Luke Duke, and therefore he was pretty sure he wouldn't hold up against Luke's little brother either.

No, to be sure of how the match was going to do, he'd have to take care of it himself, so he charged Benny and Peo to figure out some way to keep Jud from winning. The act of stealing the money would be easier, he would have that happening during the concert, and make sure that no one would suspect him.

After that there wasn't an awful lot he could do before everything got started, more than trying to control the Dukes and make sure they wouldn't mess things up.

The problem was that he had found it virtually impossible to control anyone who went by the name of Duke. If it wasn't for them, he would have been rich a lifetime ago.

Peo and Benny wasn't much for extreme kinds of thinking, in fact neither one of them did a whole lot of it if they could help it. Rather than try to come up with something new and untried that would dazzle everyone, they decided that the classics usually worked best. Right before the fight they would kidnap Jud Kane, and to make sure he wouldn't be alarmed or anything they stayed out of town and out of sight and out of the town. Hogg had let them use an old fishing cabin of his, and generously supplied it with canned food that was too outdated for him to sell.

Their female companion Natalie was really the brain of the gang, but she was more well equipped with greed than with brains, and the thousand dollars they were promise for a job well done took most of her thought capacity. She had her part of the plan though, her job was to make sure that they had the opportunity to get to Jud Kane, something Hogg told them would be easy since all the Dukes seemed to be some late day Robin Hodd just waiting for a chance to help out someone in trouble.

* * *

"What are you kids up to this time?" Jesse asked as he saw all the cars gather in the yard. Half of them had their hoods open though, which couldn't be helped, when a large part of the people around the farm was mechanics, tinkering was hardly surprising.

"We're gonna tune up the General an' the mustang an' see what they both can do," Bo cried cheerfully.

"No racing on the roads where the sheriff might catch ya," Jesse cautioned with a smile. "I ain't got enough bail money for all of ya."

"Don't worry Uncle Jesse, we're gonna take em' out to the old abandoned racetrack," Luke called back from under the hood of the General. He had Cooter working on it whit him while L.B and B.B was seeing what they could do for the mustang.

"Got all the chores done?" Jesse asked next, not that he doubted it.

"We even fixed up the broken down fence by the back forties," Jeb grinned. They not only had all the chores done, they were getting ahead on all the things that had been neglected over time.

"An' fixed that leaky patch on the barn roof," Vance added.

"We even mended the screen door Uncle Jesse?" Coy grinned happily.

"Don't you kids get smart with me," Jesse chided them with a grin. "But if ya's worked that hard, I reckon it's only right ya go on an' have some fun."

"Oh we will," Cooter grinned. "You coming with us Nancy Lou?"

"Sure Dad," Nancy Lou had been a bit hesitant about pastimes like that, and they weren't really something she felt at ease with, but she had come to realized she got to see another side of Cooter if she did. He would never be the quiet office worker that was the fathers to some of her friends, but instead with his friends she had come to see how much fun he could be to be around. Maybe when she was younger she always wished for the other kind of father, but she loved the one she had and she knew how much he loved her. There was something to be said for his friends as well, as reckless and strange as they seemed, they never hesitated to help their friend, even when he refused to admit that he needed it, and she knew that if she ever needed it, they would be there to help her to.

"Are you taking that bike out there?" she asked Jeb Stuart who was standing by the mustang.

"Sure, it's gonna be crowded enough in the cars as it is," he smiled at her. "Besides, I prefer it."

"Can I ride with you out, I've always wanted to ride on a motorcycle, but I never got to try it at home."

"It's about time then," Jeb grinned. "Go inside, there's some extra helmets in the closet in Bo and Luke's room, try get one that fits."

"Okay," Nancy Lou hurried inside to find a helmet.

"I'm disappointed Cooter," Jeb laughed. "Haven't you taught her how to ride a bike yet?"

"Left if for you good buddy, I figured that when you've taught her all ya know, then she'll be ready for me to teach her the rest," Cooter laughed.

"We can let her try it out when we race the cars," Luke decided. "I's thinking it's time to see what ya can do Jud, if ya wanna race me that is."

"Nothing I'd love more," Jud grinned at his older brother. He felt like he could really understand the eagerness both Cooter and Nancy Lou felt about getting to know each others. He had grown up wishing he could have a brother, or even a sister, but he had thought it was something that would never come to be. It had been quite hard to track down the Dukes once he found out he had been technically taken from them, and now he wanted to be with them as much as possible. He was incredible grateful for the way Bo would sometimes step back and let him be with Luke. He knew how close the two cousins were, and while he was getting quite the taste of the older brother's protectiveness he was also afraid that Bo would be pushed to the side. He didn't want Luke to trade one brother for another, and it was amazing how Bo never considered himself pushed aside. If he had felt jealous Jud could not have blamed him, but he just laughed, smiled and told Jud he should take the time to be with Luke when he could.

Finally all the hoods were closed as they prepared to head out. Nancy Lou came out with a helmet that had been painted orange and had the name 'Bo Duke' on the front together with the number 01 on the side. She giggled a little as she climbed up behind Jeb on the bike. She had not told anyone, but she thought the younger cousin was awfully cute, and that was part of the reason why she wanted to ride with him.

It took them a little while to get to the old abandoned race track, but it was worth the trip. A whole circuit for them to fool around at as much as they wanted to. Because of how long it took to get there they usually didn't bother, but there usually wasn't that many of them when they did it either, and like Uncle Jesse had pointed out. He didn't have enough bail money for all of them.

Jeb Stuart took Nancy Lou to teach her how to ride the bike in the inner circle while the boys started to divide themselves for racing.

"Who wanna race me?" Bo grinned. "I bet that thing of yours can't touch the General Coy."

"It's not the car as much as it's the driver," Coy returned. "I can beat ya any day, nights to."

"Coy, how many times have ya beat Bo?" Luke grinned.

"The next time is the first," Vance laughed, enjoying to tease his younger cousin.

"I kinda figured so, Coy ain't beat Bo anymore than you've beaten me," Luke laughed. He knew that both Coy and Vance was sometimes a slight bit jealous over the fact that he and Bo was the slightly better drivers. The two of them tried, and they for sure wasn't bad, but Bo and Luke had always been just a little better. Jeb Stuart was the only one who could sometimes beat them, and that only on motorcycle and only because he got more practice at it.

"Just you wait an' we're gonna prove just how much we can beat ya by," Vance challenged.

"You'll et yer chance," Bo promised him. "Soon as Jud races Luke, we can race y'all."

"I can't wait," Coy grinned.

"Alright, why don't y'all stand back or make yerself useful or something?" Luke stated as he grabbed the crash helmets out of the General. Nancy Lou had Bo's old helmet, but there was still two in the General, and so he tossed one to Jud. Some had made fun off them because they used the helmets in races like this, but they didn't only use helmets but also the racing harnesses in the General. They wanted to be professional drivers, and as Luke claimed, if you wanna be taken for a professional, you had better act like one. No matter how good you were, something could always go wrong, and a helmet might just mean that you survived to continue racing.

"So, I'll race the General with my car?" Jud grinned, knowing there was a slight difference in horse power between the two vehicles.

"Nah, take the mustang, ain't enough difference between the two of them not to make it a fair race."

"Then why don't you take the mustang?"

"Because a jackass can't have a mustang," Bo shot with a grin.

"I'd kick yer but if I had the time to spare for it," Luke told him as he put the helmet on and waited for Jud to get into the Mustang. "Cooter, start us off will ya."

"Do y'all promise not to run over me?" Cooter wanted to know as he pondered the starting position between the two cars.

"We might, but I doubt it," Luke laughed as he got in the car. "Thanks L.B," he grinned as the scrawny Davenport who stood himself just between the hoods of the two cars.

Raising both hands in the air he waited until both cars were revving their engines and stood trembling with unreleased power. Bringing down both his arms at the same time he watched as the two cars shot forward, struggling neck to neck as neither took an immediate advantage. Never having had the opportunity to race with the rest of the Duke boys and Various Davenports, Jud had a slight disadvantage, but he was a Duke after all and made it known.

Everyone else had cleared off the track, and the race was determined to be two laps. After one, Luke had taken the lead position with Jud hanging by his bumper. He hung tight for the entire last lap, but he never did manage to pass him before Luke won the race.

Next race Bo took over the wheel in the General and the two of them raced Coy and Vance. As most everyone predicted Bo and Luke won that race. They didn't always win every race, in fact, Bo lost the next one when he raced against Cooter. Then Nancy Lou came over to them.

"Daddy, can I race against you?" she asked Cooter hopefully. "I know I ain't never done anything like it before, an' I know girls aren't really supposed to but since you race all the time I thought that maybe….." She broke off unable to explain how she thought that racing Cooter might make her feel closer to her father.

"Sure, I'd love to race ya," Cooter grinned happily.

"Get in the General an' I'll show ya how the racing harness works," Bo grinned. Nancy Lou climbed in and Bo showed her how to adjust the racing harness properly and Luke flagged them off. Nancy Lou had never been racing before and it showed since she didn't really know how to use the car to it's fullest. Cooter was going kind of easy on her even though he wasn't giving her the win. Instead he was just holding back a tad, giving her a few opportunities that he teased her into taking. While he still won easy, Nancy Lou didn't care at all, she was just excited that she had raced him.

"Ya did well," Cooter praised her as they both climbed out of the cars.

"Thanks Daddy," she beamed as she hugged him. "Ya know, it was kinda fun, I think I wanna do it again sometime."

"Sure, I'd love that," Cooter smiled at her.

"Hey, hate to break up the party," B.B interrupted. "But I'm saying it's time we find something to eat."

"Uncle Jesse ain't gonna like it if we all go there expecting food between the meals," Bo said thoughtfully.

"So we head over to my farm, Im sure we can fix something," Cooter grinned.

"I got a better idea, Boar's Nest," Luke suggested. "Food ain't all that good, but when Boss Hogg has been quiet for this long, it's time to drop by and see what's up."

"Ya got a point there," Vance nodded. "If he's thinking of trying something, I'd rather know about it now."

"Not to mention a cold beer sounds really nice," B.B pointed out. "Come on y'all."

They got into the cars again, but this time they traded a few places. Nancy Lou still went with Jeb, but Bo slipped into the back seat and let Jud drive the General, grinning as that still made Luke shotgun.

Daisy grinned as they all came in, and then informed them that Boss Hogg wasn't there. Mostly, that meant they were able to enjoy themselves without worrying about him, but Luke would have preferred to see the fat little man in his white suit. It never sat well with him not to know what was going on, and as a result he was more quiet while the rest of them was enjoying themselves.

Bo once more proved how well he knew his cousin when he provided Luke with a distraction from his brain.

In the mean time Boss Hogg was trying to brake his old lunch record while explaining the first step to his henchmen. Boss Hogg contrary to popular belief liked to learn from his mistakes. He had made a mistake during the fight of the century, and he didn't plan to do so again. Having two competitors seemed to only make things complicated. Especially when one was to popular. He would never have bet against Luke that time, but since no one else did either, there was no profit. This time, he intended to correct that mistake.

That being said he made sure they would know better than to harm the boy. That would not only be a mistake, but Boss Hogg never wanted to see anyone hurt, no matter what.

**TBC**

_Please review, the Cricket is hungry…._


	4. In The Ring Stands a Boxer

**Author's Note: **This story was thought out while me and a friend was having our movie night, and she requested a story that would hold all the Dukes in it. It took some doing, but here they are, every single Duke that I know off, and a bunch of Davenports as well. I hope you all will enjoy it.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix….

* * *

_**A Fine Mess of Dukes**_

Chapter 4: In The Ring Stands a Boxer

It was up to Benny and Peo to make sure Jud Kane didn't make it to the fight, which was actually the day before the main events. Boss Hogg didn't want one event to keep people from spending money at the other. He'd have to return the money from the betting, but if everything worked out well, that wouldn't be a problem, and the rest should more than make up for the small loss.

Benny and Peo was confident as they headed out to the Duke farm early that morning. Boss Hogg had described Jud Kane for them, and all they had to do was grab him, keep him safe and tucked away at an old abandoned farm, then let him get out of there after he had been forced to forfeit the fight.

Their plan only had a few small flaws in it, the first one being, they didn't get Jud Kane.

Jud had talked Luke into helping him train and warm up before the fight, and he was now inside getting ready while Luke had gone out to the barn. He had already tied on his gloves and was using the sandbag while he waited for his little brother.

To the crocks defense it could be said that the odds of there being more than one dark haired boxing Duke boy was rather slim, but there was two of them. Neither one of the two was strong at thinking, so they just checked of the list, Duke, right location, dark hair, more or less right age, blue eyes, and most obviously a boxer. They didn't bother to ask him for his id card. They simply used the ball bat they had brought along for if he needed some convincing and knocked him out to create less of a fuss, then hauled him along.

* * *

Luke woke up feeling as if he had been at Boar's Nest and seriously overestimated his limit the night before. They had been there, but since he knew he had left after only two beers it didn't make sense. Focusing on his last clear memory some things made more sense, other things less. The last he knew he was outside waiting for Jud to come join him. That did not explain the cold drafty shack he seemed to be finding himself in. It explained even less why his hands were tied behind his back.

He couldn't think of one single reason for it, and if there was one thing Luke hated it was to have no idea why something was happening. He was still wearing the trunks and the boxing boots he had been wearing before, but the gloves was missing. He had no idea how much time had passed either, but he was pretty sure the fight would be starting soon.

Then he had to laugh as he realized what had happened. They though he was Jud….

Just before the fight where he fought Catfish Lee, the opposition had kidnapped him so he would not make it to the fight in time. It had to be the same thing, only this time, they had gotten the wrong one, him instead of Jud. It was rather strange really, back in the Marines boxing hadn't been such a dangerous thing to do.

In the meantime the Dukes had come to realize that Luke was missing, and that all the cars was still there. With the fight just a few hours away, they had themselves quite the problem. Jud wanted to ignore the fight and focus on his cousin, but since it was all for the benefit of the orphanage, he could not really do it. All the rest of them however was out searching for the missing Duke boy, and Bo worked hard not to show how worried he was. It simply wasn't like Luke to disappear like that.

Still no one had heard from him, and they even asked the Sheriff, though Rosco just told them he had probably snuck out to do something that would send his probation whistling up a hollow tree.

"Enos, please tell me yer gonna keep an eye out for him?" Bo pleaded into the CB mic "Luke wouldn't take off from the farm without telling us, ya know that."

"Now, Bo, a person has to be missing for twenty four hours before they's officially missing," Enos pointed out. "Ya know that don't ya?"

"I know Enos, but you know that Luke wouldn't take off without telling us where he went, an' he sure as heck ain't here, so would ya please help us an just keep an eye out for him?"

"Of course," Enos bobbed his head up an' down. "If I spot him, I'll make sure he knows y'all are looking for him."

"Appreciate that Enos," Bo nodded. It was the best they would get from the sheriff's department and they knew it. They had spread out all of them and was using the free time they had before the game to search for their currently literally lost sheep.

In the meantime Luke had been working on finding a way out of his holding place. So far, he hadn't found anything at all that could help him. His hands were firmly tied behind his back, and by now he didn't really have any use of them. The rope was tight enough to have cut off the blood circulation, and his hands were too numb for him to know what he was doing. His feet were untied but they had taken his boots which would hinder him if he were able to get out, something he doubted since the only result he had gotten trying to bust the door open was to bruise up his shoulder.

There was a tiny window in the shack, but it was too high up for him to see anything but extremely dirty light that filtered through, and the time he had spent yelling had been completely fruitless. He had crouched down in a corner when the door finally opened and he could see two men standing there. One big and muscular with close cut blonde hair, the other shorter, slimmer and with brown hair and goatee.

"Let me outta here!" Luke demanded sharply.

"Don't think so Jud, we've got orders to hold ya here," the blond told him.

Well, it confirmed his suspicion that they had grabbed him up instead of Jud, it would be interesting to see what they'd do when Jud still showed up for the fight.

"You guys have any idea of the penalty for kidnapping?" he asked though he doubted it, they didn't seem all that intelligent.

"We're gonna let ya go later," the brown haired one told him. "An' if ya know what's good for ya, yer gonna tell everyone that ya got lost."

"Oh, that's real smart," Luke nodded. "I'm sure that everyone's gonna believe that I got lost between the back porch an' the barn…."

"I suggest ya shut up now, an' maybe we'll be nice enough to give ya some food," the brown haired one told him in a threatening voice.

"Alright, fine," Luke knew better than to keep arguing. There was nothing to gain, and who knew how long it would be before he was able to get away. If he was able to bust out, and was to stand any chance of getting himself back, eating was something he would have to do, so even if he didn't exactly like giving in to them he did so anyway.

It took a while, but then he was given his meal. Hot dogs that had been dropped in a mess of grits, and a tin cup of water. They released his hands long enough for him to eat and he ignored the numbness and just dipped his hand into the food bringing it to his mouth, then taking the tin cup of water in both hands so he could drink. Then as the blood started flowing into his hands again the pins and needle feeling got so bad he couldn't bite back the groans of pain.

The blonde re-tied his hands again, this time in front of him but just as tight. The pain in his hands by now was so bad he simply curled up around himself to wait it out. Eventually the pain ebbed out and he straightened out again. Once more looking around to try and find an escape route.

Once more he was forced to give up, and as much as the Dukes tried, they simply were not able to locate him.

Jud showed up for the fight, and Boss Hogg went to yell at his dirty workers for letting him escape. They had reported that they had Jud, and since Boss Hogg had not seen him he simply assumed that they had let him escape. The two of them quickly scurried off and discovered that Luke was still in the shack where they had left him. That was when they realized that they had picked up the wrong person, and it left them with the problem of what to do with him. Boss Hogg quickly turned it into his advantage. He decided to hold him for a while longer. The Dukes was an extremely close knit family, and they had friends all over town. Everyone loved them, or close to. Even Boss Hogg knew about the frequent spats between Luke Duke and Ernie Ledbetter, especially Boss Hogg knew about them since a lot of them took place inside the Boar's Nest and tended to be pretty hard on the furniture inside the establishment.

The point as Boss Hogg saw it was that he could hold Luke fore ransom rather than rob the charity event. All it would take was a ransom note and they would all pay up. He could demand all the money he wanted, and for the all loved Luke Duke the people in the county would pay it. Jesse Duke would sell his farm, and Loretta Lynn wouldn't say a word about giving up the money from the event as she still loved the Duke boys for having rescued her. It was a perfect plan.

The two kidnappers, Benny and Peo served him an evening meal consisting of their own leftovers and tossed him a blanket. He had hoped that they would release him from the rope but apparently their kindness only went so far and he curled up on the floor, covering himself with the blanket as much as possible and trying to sleep.

**TBC**

_Please review, the Cricket is hungry…_

_A/N: Extra points to anyone can tell what song I had fun with for the chapter title, and if anyone wants more fun, the names for the bad guys has some times to the real world… _;)


	5. Ransom

**Author's Note: **This story was thought out while me and a friend was having our movie night, and she requested a story that would hold all the Dukes in it. It took some doing, but here they are, every single Duke that I know off, and a bunch of Davenports as well. I hope you all will enjoy it.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix….

* * *

_**A Fine Mess of Dukes**_

_Chapter 5: Ransom_

The breakfast at the Duke farm wasn't the rowdy and amusing meal it tended to be the following morning. Bo could hardly bring himself to eat anything, and everyone was worried.

"It's gotta be Boss Hogg," Bo blurted out dropping his fork to his plate.

"Bo, we don't know that for sure," Jesse pointed out.

"But who else would take Luke?" Bo objected. "It's gotta be him, it just gotta."

"Question is why?" Vance pondered. "Whoever took him has got to have a motive."

"The one who'd be able to figure that out is Luke," Jeb Stuart pointed out sadly.

"To bad he's the one we're looking for," B.B nodded.

"I still say it's gotta be Boss Hogg, an' he only ever does things for one reason," Bo pointed out. "Money."

"But how could he make money out of holding Luke?" Coy frowned confused.

"Well, it could simply be Luke got in the way and found out what he was doing," Bo reasoned, doing his best to think the way Luke would be doing. "But since he was right here at the farm, I don't think so. So there has got to be something Boss wanna do, an' either he needs Luke outta the way, or he needs to have him to be able to."

"I can't think of anything," Jud said sourly. He hated to think that anyone of his new found family was in danger, and he had certainly not forgotten about the first time he came to Hazzard, when he nearly lost his brother just after he found him. To him it was the worst thing that could happen, and he hated the fact that it was Luke in danger once more. Sometimes he felt as if he should never have tried to find his family, if he hadn't, Luke wouldn't have gotten hurt that time. On the other hand, he loved them and didn't know how to go on without them.

"Look," Cooter reasoned slowly. "We got plenty of manpower right now, so lets just see what we can do about a more throughout search. We got cars an' we can round up some bikes, so lets grab a map and see how much of the area we can cover if we all split up."

Bo ran into their room to fetch the Hazzard County road map and spread it out on the kitchen table. They decided to call of the search at noon if there was no result, because at one pm Loretta Lynn was due at the Boar's Nest, and while Luke was far more important, if they still hadn't been able to find him by then, they were hoping to get some help searching.

Dividing the map into grids depending on how easy the area was to cover, and how experienced the searcher was they quickly took off in different directions. With everyone going by their own they were able to cover most of the roads in the county, but like Bo pointed out the problem was really the areas between the roads. There was the swamp and there was the Indian caves. There was hundreds of still sites spread out in the area, and it was simply impossible to cover all of it.

At noon, neither of them had found a single clue and Jud was feeling the frustration build up. He wanted someone he could fight, someone where he could get the satisfaction of beating the opponent into a bloody pulp. Unknown enemies was something he just simply hated.

Bo was getting worried, and his worry started showing in his temper as well, which meant that the two of them got snapping at each others. Cooter pointed out that it wasn't helping, and Bo wrapped his arms around his cousin instead, seeking comfort. The first time he did that, Jud hadn't really responded to it as it took him by surprise. Now he had gotten to know his cousin better and knew how huggy Bo would get when scared or worried. Having started to feel a little of the same protectiveness that his older brother did towards their younger cousin, Jud embraced him. "Don't worry cousin, there ain't no way we're gonna give up before we got him back here," he assured him.

"I know," Bo nodded. "I reckon all we can do is talk to the rest of the folk around here an' see if they'll help us."

"Of course they will," Jud kept an arm around his shoulders as they walked off towards the cars again. It was time to head for the Boar's Nest to see what cold be done.

* * *

Luke's only indication to the time of the day was that he was served lunch. Grits, bread and water. It wasn't too bad but it sure did make him wish for his uncle's home cooking. They hadn't given him enough food for him to really get by on, but he still had enough energy reserves to make a run for it if the opportunity should present itself.

He spent most of the time stretched out on the blanket on the floor, grateful that there at least were no rats in the shed. He hated rats with all of his heart. Back in Vietnam there was always rats, and if you fell asleep, you might get some really unpleasant wake up calls from them.

He was completely unaware of the fact that Loretta Lynn's tour RV camper was pulling in into Hazzard at that very moment, and that Benny and Peo had left to join the crowd awaiting her arrival at the Boars Nest.

When the bus stopped Loretta Lynn stepped out grinning at the crowd. A grin that turned to a slight frown as she spotted the Dukes, she sure did recognize them from her earlier visit, and it worried her that they were all looking so sad and upset.

"Welcome back to Hazzard Miss Loretta," Boss Hogg boomed and Bo held out his hand to help her out of the RV camper.

"Something wrong Bo?" she asked as she looked around. The Dukes seemed to have grown in strength somehow.

"Yeah," Bo admitted. "Luke's missing, an' we can't find him."

"Oh my," she ignored Boss Hogg's requests to step inside the Boar's Nest and joined their group. Jesse quickly introduced everyone that she had not already met, and explained the situation to her.

She was still listening when a dark haired man with a goatee came over. "Pardon Miss Lynn, but I's supposed to deliver this to ya," he handed her an envelope. "One of yer fan's shy I reckon," he grinned and ducked back into the crowed.

Frowning she opened up the envelope and pulled out a machine printed paper, reading it quietly. "Oh no," she breathed. "This is about Luke."

"Let me see that," Jesse grabbed the paper from her hands, reading it through. "Says here they's got Luke, an' that if we wanna see him again, they are demanding all the money we's raised for the orphans."

"Luke's kidnapped?" Bo burst out. "They can't do that."

"I reckon they already did," Vance pointed out grimly. "We need to show that note to Rosco, for evidence. If there is no other way, I guess we are just gonna have to turn the money over."

"Luke ain't gonna be happy about that," Cooter stated shaking his head.

"I ain't forgotten all you did for me," Loretta stated. "Whatever they demand, I'm gonna make sure that they get it as long as it gets him back here safe."

"I appreciate that ma'am," Jesse told her. "I hope it ain't gonna come to that, them poor kids sure could use the money, but I appreciate it."

"Who'd be doing a thing like that?" Bo frowned. "I mean, why Luke?"

"I still think it's Boss Hogg," Coy voiced his opinion. "There ain't nothing he wouldn't do."

"Yeah, but Boss Hogg don't want to get involved with us, so he wouldn't risk it if there was any other way," Jeb added. "I ain't saying he wouldn't do it, but he would be scared of us."

"Boss Hogg is scared of us," Cooter agreed. "Don't know why, we're just a bunch of plain ol' country boys," he grinned hoping to cheer the others up a bit.

"Yeah, well, we've given him plenty trouble in the past," L.B pointed out with a grin.

"Look boys, I really hate to do this, but if I don't get over to the big white marshmallow over there, we might not be raising any money, and in case we need them, I think I had better," Loretta told them.

"We understand ma'am," Jesse nodded. "An' I hope ya understand we'd love to stay an' listen, but we're gonna have to keep searching for Luke."

"Ya let me know if ya find him ya hear," Loretta nodded. "An' if ya need me."

"We will," Bo assured her. "Okay, y'all know where we broke off, so just continue, an' check in regularly." He wasn't used to being the one who took charge, but he had seen Luke do it hundred of times, and some of it had rubbed off at least enough that he knew someone had to take charge. Luke always said that the only thing worse than a bad action was no action. Normally the one who called the shots was Luke, and if not him, Jesse would do it, but at times like this Bo felt he had to try and lighten the burden his uncle carried, so he tried to do what Luke would have done. He knew one thing, if it had been him was missing, Luke would have stopped at nothing to get him back. He would also probably already have figured something out and pulled it off. Sometimes, at times like this, Bo felt really inadequate compared to his older cousin, because he was always sure Luke would already have taken care of the problem.

They left the Boar's Nest again and went back to the grid search, but no one was able to find any traces. No out of place tire tracks or anything at all that looked like a clue.

"This don't make sense," Cooter complained. "He's got to still be in the county, but I ain't seen nothing could tell us where."

"Maybe we need a new angle," Vance suggested.

"What kind of angle?" Coy asked, turning to his older cousin. He was used to turn his trust to the older one just like Bo did. Bo felt just slightly bad about it, but he just wasn't able to put the same kind of trust in Vance as he did in Luke, but it wasn't because of Vance really, it was just that Luke had always been his one and only hero, and no one else could quite measure up to that.

"Well, if we can figure out who and why, we might be able to figure out where they would hold him," Vance explained.

"Okay, so who did it?" Bo demanded.

"We don't know Bo," Cooter stepped over to him, knowing how badly it tore at him. "We'll figure it out though."

Bo nodded. "I'm sorry y'all, just don't know what to do." He looked up at them, not bothering to try and hide the fear he was feeling.

"It's okay Bo," Vance was the one who stepped over to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He had always looked up to Luke and wished he could be somewhat like his older cousin, and that meant he'd step in and try to assure Bo.

Nancy Lou didn't say anything because she couldn't really picture any motive to actually kidnap someone, it all seemed alien to her.

"Well, if they're demanding the money for the orphans, it's gotta be someone knows about it all," Jeb pointed out. "An' that kinda means that it is someone in this county, an' we all know the only one here really has got the resources to do it is Boss Hogg. The question is why, because kidnapping isn't really his kinda thing, an' why did he do it right before the boxing?"

"Wait a minute," Bo burst out. "Uncle Jesse, don't ya remember when Boss bought that mirror, an' forced Luke to fight. They tried to kidnap him so's they'd win when he didn't show."

"I remember," Jesse nodded. "But Bo, that'd only make sense if it'd been Jud they went for, not Luke."

"You guys do look a lot like each others," Cooter pointed out studying Jud. "If you gave someone a rough description it'd be easy to kinda pick the wrong one buy mistake."

"An' Luke had his gear on cause the two of ya was gonna spar," Bo pointed out.

"It's possible," Jesse admitted.

"But if he's taken by mistake for the boxing, why are they demanding ransom now?" B.B frowned.

"Because they got the wrong guy," Vance grinned. "They had to figure out another way to make money of the situation, an' that's got Boss Hogg's name written all over it. So come on, where'd Boss Hogg keep anyone?"

"He wouldn't," Bo was grinning to now. "He'd get someone else to do his dirty work for him, an' that means there's strangers around here."

"An' it sure was a stranger that just handed us the ransom note," Jesse stated. "Alright ya kids, we need to figure out if anyone's seen that jasper hanging around here lately."

They nodded and spread out to ask everyone in the crowed, and soon they had the description of three strangers, two males and a woman. No one knew exactly where to find them, but in the general opinion they seemed to be located somewhere in the west near the mountains.

That narrowed down the area they would have to search so it was at least a small improvement if not a big one. Jesse dug out a more detailed map over the area and they started pinpointing the location of every known cabin or still site where someone might be hiding him.

"What about the old Tompkins place?" Bo suggested. "That place has been deserted ever since he passed on ya know, it'd be a perfect place."

"No," Jesse shook his head. "It would of been, but it got knocked over and leveled to the ground that last winter storm."

"I forgot about that," Bo mumbled. "What's left then?"

"What about that still site, on the ridge?" Vance suggested pulling the area to memory.

"An' there's the caves," Jeb added. "We used to hang out there all the time cause no one got around there."

"Wouldn't work, ever since that cave-in down in the back of it, the thing floods every spring an' don't dry up till late autumn. Only thing ya could keep there is catfish," Daisy declared.

"Look here boys," Jesse interrupted. "We got all the sites marked out, what we're gonna do is we split of and take them on by one, an' we ain't gonna overlook anything.

They headed out, but by nightfall the only thing to report was that the Johnson's fishing shack was inhabited by something that made Cooter beat the Hazzard High track record in long distance running.

"It ain't no use," Bo mumbled when they were back at the house. "We can't find him, what are we gonna do Uncle Jesse?"

"Take it easy Bo, it's gonna be okay," Jesse assured him putting a hand on his shoulder. "Worst comes to worst, we should know about the ransom tomorrow. Seeing as how the show is over, I reckon we ain't gonna have much choice."

"This is crazy," Jud mumbled. "This is really crazy, we gotta figure out how to get them an' get Luke back."

"Look," Bo tried to think like Luke would have. "They's gotta give us the terms right, so they's gonna have to give it to us. If we're ready for them, maybe we can make them lead us back to where they hide out."

"Ain't a bad idea," Cooter grinned. "Remember the time we fixed up the car to give an oil leak we could follow. They ain't gonna be walking here ya know.

"But how can we be sure where they are gonna be when they give it to us?" Coy asked.

"I think I know a way," Vance started to smile. "They gave the last note to Miss Loretta, if we got a few of us with her at the Boar's Nest, an' no where else, that's where they are gonna have to go. The rest can just keep out of sight till they show up. We tag any car we don't know, an' then we can follow it."

**TBC**

_Please review, the Cricket is hungry…._


	6. To The Rescue

**Author's Note: **This story was thought out while me and a friend was having our movie night, and she requested a story that would hold all the Dukes in it. It took some doing, but here they are, every single Duke that I know off, and a bunch of Davenports as well. I hope you all will enjoy it.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix….

* * *

_**A Fine Mess of Dukes**_

Chapter 6: To The Rescue

Jesse, Daisy and Bo hung out around the Boar's Nest while the rest of the Duke's had hid out around the bar. They were going to keep an eye on the place the entire time checking for any cars that they didn't know.

"Hey, check that one out," Coy declared as he spotted a blue van that neither of them really knew. "Don't that guy driving kinda fit the description?"

"He sure does," Vance nodded. "Okay Jeb, get ready, we're gonna tag it."

They had decided that Jud was the best one suited for the job since he looked the most innocent and everything. He could usually pull of a good shuck n' jive so they had no worries he'd be able to pull it off.

Grinning he strolled over to the van and attached Cooter's latest little gadget. Wherever they went, they'd leave a good trail that was easy to follow. Then as he got back in cover they waited. The man came back outside and drove off, and just a minute after Jesse came back outside, hurrying over to them.

"That's it kids, that was them," he showed them a paper with printed instructions for how to deliver the money. "Let's get after them."

"Ya got it," Jud grinned as he headed for his car. Bo came running out from the Boar's Nest, he and Jesse would go along, but Daisy and Nancy Lou was staying behind with Loretta in case there was any trouble.

Taking the cars down the road they followed the trail without ever getting so close to the van that they were spotted. Bo loved the way they were able to follow them right home without them having any ideas, and after a while they came upon a small shack just below the mountains. He couldn't really recall ever being there, but Jesse recognized it.

"This here is a place Boss Hogg got for when he wanted to slip away from his wife Lulu," the old man mused. "I had plumb near forgotten about it since he didn't ever use it for shine or nothing. He'd camp out in the cabin, an' store his car in that shack in the back, but then he got too used to the comforts of regular ten course meals and stopped using it. An' that was already when the two of you boys just about could walk right under the table."

"Uncle Jesse, there's a ditch right behind the shack," Bo pointed out. "I bet if I got over there, I could hide in the ditch an' take a peek see if Luke's in there."

"I'll do it," Jud objected. "I got the training for it."

"Alright Jud," Jesse acknowledged his need to help and feel useful. It wasn't always easy for him to come into the family like he did. He needed to be part of it like everyone else, and Bo could be too hot headed at times. He might try something foolish, especially when it came down to Luke. "Ya wait here Bo."

Jud headed off through the forest so that he couldn't be spotted from the cabin before he slipped down in the ditch. Then he made his way along it all the way to behind the shack where he got up and made his way to the back wall. He found a good large crack and put his eye to it. It was dark inside, but he could still see a figure huddling in there. Keeping his eye on the person until he was more used to the dim light inside he was able to recognize his brother, and so he took more stock into the situation. Then he made his way back to the others.

"Luke's in the shack there," he reported.

"What are ya waiting for then, lets go get him," Bo demanded but Vance stopped him.

"We can't just walk up to the door," he pointed out.

"They'd spot us," Coy agreed. "There's gotta be another way."

"There is," Jud nodded. "The boards are half rotten and lose in places, with some tools I think we could get enough of them off on the far side so that we can slip in an' bring him back out with us. Bo, Jeb, I reckon the three of us could pull it off." He couldn't deny Bo the chance to help out when he knew how close the two of them were, and Jeb was both strong and agile.

Jesse gritted his teeth as he watched the three of the pick some tools out of the trunk before heading back to the ditch, once they were there, he couldn't see them anymore, and he couldn't hear them either. The rest of them waiting simply had no idea of what they were doing.

Jud slipped up over to the side wall of the shack and started looking for the best place to start loosening the boards. When he found it, Jeb and Bo quickly started to work the boards lose.

Bo didn't waste time, as soon as the opening was big enough for him to press through he did. Hurrying over to Luke while the other two worked on widening it a bit for when they went back out. Bo knelt down beside his cousin and got out his pocket knife to cut the rope around his wrists.

"Hey cousin," Luke mumbled in a hoarse voice, but Bo noticed the slight smile on his face.

"Can ya make it out of here?" Bo asked in a whisper.

"Don't plan on staying, hospitality wasn't that great," Luke told him as he pushed to his feet and stumbled after Bo towards the opening in the wall. He smiled at the others as they helped him through. He felt like he hadn't eaten in days and his throat was sore from the yelling while he was sure he had no spare moisture at all in his body. They sure hadn't wasted any comfort on him, though otherwise it hadn't been too bad. At least not any worse than he could take.

"We gotta get down in the ditch there," Jud cautioned him. "We don't want them to spot us. Can ya manage that?"

"Alternative don't seem all that great," Luke muttered as he moved down into the ditch. He lost his grip and fell down, but Jeb had already crawled down there and caught him, steadying him and helping him to get started on the way as the Bo and Jud hurried after.

"There ya are my boy!" Jesse wasted no time to embrace him as soon as they joined the others, but Luke pulled away. Bo had cut the rope and now that circulation was returning in his hands the pain seemed unbearable.

"Come on, lets get out of here," Cooter looked around nervously. He didn't want to rush his friend, but getting caught wouldn't do any good, even if they were sure they had the larger number.

"Can ya manage to the cars Luke?" Jesse asked worriedly as he regarded the pale and drawn face of his oldest. Luke gave a small nod though and started off down the road. B.B and L.B ran ahead to the cars to make sure no one was there, while Coy and Vance fell behind a short distance to make sure no one followed them.

It was all down to Jud's request and another time Jesse might have been amazed. Jud still pulled on his military training much like Luke did, but Luke didn't really use routines like that all that much. He usually tried to keep track of everything himself instead, and the biggest trait he had from the military was his tendency to hand out orders to everyone, including his uncle.

Now though he was walking hunched over with Bo's arm around his back while he had his hands tucked under his arms in an attempt to ease the pain.

"Come on Luke, we're gonna be out of here in just a minute," Bo urged him on as they came up to where they had left the cars.

"Ain't heard me complain, have ya?" Luke muttered as he tried to get into the back seat of Jud's car without coming in contact of anything with his hands. He would have trusted the General more, but getting in through the window would probably be more than he could handle. Jesse quickly got in the backseat beside him, while Bo went for shot gun, letting Jud drive since it was his car.

Cooter gave up his truck to L.B and B.B so he could take the General out of there. Taking front since he suspected that if they were found out, everyone would be following the General, and he would be able to pull away from the others and ensure their safety.

"Got any water?" Luke croaked as he leaned towards his uncle.

"Just as soon as we stop Luke," Jesse promised. He scooted closer to Luke and draped an arm around his shoulders. "How's yer hands son?"

"Hurts, but that's just cause the ropes was too tight," Luke assured him.

"Well, yer hands are kinda swollen ya know, so I reckon we're gonna have ole' doc take a look at them, make sure there ain't nothing else wrong."

"How did the fight go?" Luke wanted to know.

"I won," Jud grinned as he pressed down harder on the gas and Bo passed Jesse the water bottle from the front. "Don't tell me ya doubted me?" he teased.

"No," Luke shook his head. "But they weren't gonna play fair." He licked his lips eyeing the water longingly. "They thought I was you, was gonna take ya so ya couldn't fight."

"We figured as much," Bo nodded as Jud stopped the car. He figured they were a safe enough distance away that Luke could have a drink. "When they found out they had the wrong one, they tried to demand a ransom instead, but we figured we'd try to beat them to it."

"Good," Luke let Jesse hold the bottle for him since he knew he wouldn't be able to hold it on his own. He drank greedily and was about to ask for more when Jesse took it away.

"Did they give ya any food or drink?" the old man asked.

"A little, not near enough," Luke complained. "I'm starved."

"Don't ya worry, there's gonna be food a'plenty when we get ya back home," Jesse smiled. "I'll feed ya till ya bust if that's what it's gonna take."

**TBC**

_Please review, the Cricket is hungry….._


	7. Home Again

**Author's Note: **This story was thought out while me and a friend was having our movie night, and she requested a story that would hold all the Dukes in it. It took some doing, but here they are, every single Duke that I know off, and a bunch of Davenports as well. I hope you all will enjoy it.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix….

* * *

_**A Fine Mess of Dukes**_

_**Chapter 7: Home Again**_

Luke gave a small smile as they came up to the Boar's Nest. "Ya out to scare Boss?" he asked with a grin.

"We need to pick up Daisy an' Nancy Lou," Jesse explained. "They waited here to see what was going to happen."

"How'd ya make Daisy stay behind?" Luke asked, knowing how she hated to be left out.

"Someone had to make sure that Nancy Lou an' Miss Loretta was gonna be okay," Jesse stated. "We ain't going in Luke, Cooter's getting them."

Luke nodded, he wasn't interested in going anywhere but home. Though he did push the door open and lean out. The water he had been given to drink refused to stay down any longer. He groaned knowing what it meant, the dehydration made him sick from drinking, and anything he drank would just come back up a minute later.

"Ya okay Luke?" Bo demanded worriedly.

"Just great," Luke groaned, sinking down in the seat.

"Ya sure?" Jesse asked, brushing a few strands of hair from his forehead.

"Yeah, just ain't gonna be able to keep anything much down," he sighed.

"We'll just take a little at a time an' yer gonna be fine," Jesse soothed him.

Luke nodded slowly. "I know how it goes Uncle Jesse, few sips, saltine crackers an' then get some sleep an' it's gonna be fine. I've done it before."

Jud drove off again as soon as Cooter came back out from the Boar's Nest, helping Loretta Lynn into the car since she insisted on going along with them. Then they all headed out to the farm. Bo calling doc Appleby on the CB and asking him to meet them there. Luke still had his hands tucked under his arms and it had him slightly worried.

When the old country doctor arrived at the farm, Luke was seated at the kitchen table nibbling on a saltine cracker and taking tiny sips of water. Jesse had put a straw in the glass so he didn't have to pick it up, something he was grateful for. He had made a few runs to the bathroom, but right now the water seemed to stay down. Though he had to abandon the water as the doctor looked at his hands.

He was sure glad to hear that there had been no lasting damage, but he wouldn't practice boxing with Jud for a while since his hands was swollen. He couldn't even make a fist, and not really change his clothes or anything else either without someone giving him a hand.

The country doctor was a kind old man and with simple habits. Luke liked him, and he would rather have the friendly contact than any fancy city doctor and how impersonal they seemed to be.

Doc Appleby talked and joked with him as he bound up his hands to take some off the focus of the pain, then he simply told him to get to bed and get some sleep. Knowing he was right and that he'd be feeling more normal in the morning Luke agreed right away and slipped off to the boy's bedroom. The journey from the kitchen to the bedroom took him near ten minutes since everyone wanted to hug him though. Bo following him all the way into the bedroom and pulling back the cover for him, event though he insisted that he could manage on his own.

Bo needed to talk with him though, and Luke knew it, so he let Bo pretend he was there only to help him while he figured out how he wanted to say it.

"I'm sorry Luke," he finally mumbled.

"For what?" Luke had been hoping that he would say something that would make sense.

"When something happens to me, ya always got it all figure out in just a minute," Bo explained. "But I couldn't do it. I should've known they's after Jud cause of the boxing, I should've figured it out Luke, but I couldn't."

"Bo, it don't matter what ya did or didn't figure out. Ya came for me, that's what matters," Luke sighed tiredly, wanting to sleep. Not that he had been doing a lot of heavy exercise in the shed, but he hadn't slept a lot since he wanted to be ready to see what was going to happen.

"I should've figured it out sooner, but I wasn't smart enough," Bo admitted guiltily.

"So what, can't all be as smart as each others," Luke pointed out. "Maybe yer not the sharpest wit cousin, but I don't care. Don't put yerself down just because you didn't figure it out, can't be sure I would've done it any faster."

"Of course ya would," Bo declared. He couldn't really comprehend that Luke might not be able to.

"I ain't so sure, but can we take it later, I wanna sleep now," Luke mumbled as he dropped his head on the pillow and closed his eyes.

"Is it okay if I stay in here?" Bo asked quietly.

"Sure," Luke answered him, pretty much asleep already. He shifted a little as Bo settled down on his own bed, and after that he was fully asleep.

Luke slept on right through the night and didn't even stir when the rest of them slipped in to go to bed. Bo mused to himself that it was the first time since they all got there that he was offered a bed, but he passed it to Jeb, taking the mattress between the two beds instead since it would let him be closer to Luke. Jud moved his sleeping bag to the other side of Luke's bed where he would be between him and the door. Bo recognized it as a protective instinct, but he wondered what would happen if Luke woke up wanting to go to the bathroom or something in the middle of the night.

It wasn't a problem though since Luke didn't wake up before the rest of them was more or less dressed and ready to start the day. Bo and Coy arguing over what socks belonged to whom, since both of them had just tossed them to the floor when they went to bed. Now Coy claimed that his socks was not supposed to be two different lengths, while one was clearly dirtier than the other, and Bo figured it didn't matter. They were socks, they went on his feet and that was pretty much all he needed to know about them, except that he didn't like it when they had too many holes in them. What was the point in having socks on if all your toes was on the outside rather than the inside?

Later he supposed Jesse would scold them for waking Luke up, but as he looked at his cousin Bo saw the smile as he listened to them. Luke enjoyed listening to the banter.

"Ya about ready to get up cousin?" Bo asked as he sank down on the edge of the bed.

"I don't know, don't seem like a half bad idea to stay here an' let y'all do all the work," Luke grinned and made to fold his hands under his head but stopped when he felt a twinge. His hands felt a lot better and the swelling was down somewhat, but they were still pretty sore.

"Yeah, I bet ya'd like that," Vance grinned. "I reckon we can manage without ya though, who knows, maybe I can make some improvements on the tractor an' make it work for once…" he added teasingly. He wanted his cousin to rest, but he knew the importance of not treating him like you thought he needed it.

"How did ya get the idea ya could take on the tractor when ya can't even keep that old junk pile y'all got running," Luke snorted. "Only thing keeping it together is the rust. At least the tractor has some character…"

"It ain't as much character as it is a load of not quit working jury rigged repairs," Vance baited. "It's all duct tape and chewing gum…"

"It works," Luke informed him. Thought Vance had a point, he had used some rather interesting repair methods in the past, but then it was out of necessity when there was no way to accomplish anything better.

"I bet the only reason the General works as good as he does is because Cooter do more of the work than you do," Vance went on, but now Coy ignored the 'battle of the socks' that he still had going with Bo and tugged at Vance to get him out and started on the chores. Vance didn't always know when it was time to step back and the General's working condition could be a touchy subject at times.

Coy couldn't always read his cousins that much better than Vance could, but while he bantered the most with Bo, he could read Luke better than Vance did. Bo was more easy to read since he had always been the one who showed his emotions clearly. Maybe Daisy showed even more being a girl, but Bo was really open with what he felt, while Luke was as closed as Boss Hogg's safe.

One thing Coy had discovered though was that Luke was just a little more open with him and Jeb Stuart than he was with Vance. The reason was that they were younger and Luke's protectiveness kicked in. For some reason it made it easier for Luke to show some of what he felt. Unless he was worried or scared because then he locked up not wanting to let them know there was anything bad happening. Coy suspected that it bothered Vance since he had always looked up a lot to Luke. He himself looked up to all his cousins, but the age difference between Luke and Vance wasn't all that big, and Vance was sometimes torn between looking up to Luke, and wanting Luke to see him as an equal. It made him push too far at times.

"Come on cuz, we'd better get the eggs," he said pulling Vance along.

Jeb had stepped out into the kitchen since he had the self appointed task of convincing Jesse it was a great day to make pancakes for breakfast. He had come up with the perfect plan to make his uncle give in. Be cute and hope Jesse would take pity on the fact that he was most often not at the farm to enjoy them. If he was lucky, Jesse wouldn't point out how often his mother made pancakes but give in.

Bo headed out into the kitchen first to add his puppy eyes to Jeb's arguments, and then to help Coy and Vance with the chores.

Jud remained behind to give Luke a hand with the buttons on his shirt and jeans. The oldest Duke boy having waited until no one else was around to witness him having a special appointed button closer.

They could hear giggles from the girls room, so they knew that Daisy and Nancy Lou was in there and was up already.

"There, looks good brother," Jud grinned as he finished. Referring to the older boy as brother was a way for him to remind himself that he did have an older brother now. When he was little he had always wished for a big brother to protect him, and a little brother to play with and do the same for. In the Duke family he found he had both in Bo and Luke, a sister in Daisy and a whole heap of cousins as well.

"Much obliged," Luke nodded as he checked the buttons on his shirt front. It was just force of habit after Bo had mismatched them in an attempt to be funny a time or two.

"Is plaid shirts a secret family trade mark I know nothing about?" Jud teased.

"If it is, no one told me either," Luke chuckled. "I think it's Bo's fault in some way. Just ain't figured out how yet."

Jud chuckled, Bo and Luke usually blamed things on each others, he was used to it.

"Come on now, lets have breakfast," Luke grinned as he headed for the bedroom door.

"Sounds like a great idea, I hope Uncle Jesse's cooking," Jud beamed.

"He is, an' Jeb convinced him to cook up some pancakes," Luke grinned.

"How can ya tell?" Jud frowned confused when he saw that Luke was right.

"Simple, I could smell the pancakes, an' Daisy always burns them, so ya can tell it wasn't her," Luke gave her cousin a teasing grin. "Though, the fact I heard her in her room kinda gave it away to."

"That's why we say Luke's the smart one," Bo grinned. "He is."

"Don't much matter who's smart," Jesse told them. "All sit down, an' any hand I see on the food before I say grace will get the feel of my spatula, got it?"

"Me to?" Luke asked, giving him an innocent look as he showed his hands.

"Not you," Jesse shook his head. "You I'll pour a real big glass of cold buttermilk with yer breakfast, good fer healing ya know Luke. Maybe I should do that?"

"No thanks, I ain't gonna touch it," Luke promised as he dropped his hands in his lap and Jesse smiled. Saying grace and thanking the good lord for all of his children.

"Ya kids got any plans today?" Jesse asked as he served them up the food and they started eating.

"Not really," Vance told him, stepping into the role of the one in charge since Luke appeared to be busy with his breakfast.

"Good, good," Jesse mumbled thoughtfully. "Y'all up to getting out for a bit?"

"What's happening Uncle Jesse?" Bo asked, forgetting about the hot biscuit on his plate long enough for Luke to steal it. Though Jud who took pity on him replaced it with a few stripes of bacon.

"Well, it just seemed like a shame to me that none of us got to hear Loretta Lynn sing," Jesse told them thoughtfully. She's gotta move on, but I hear she wanted to hand over the money to the orphanage first, so they's gonna take care of it today at the Boar's Nest."

"That's great," Bo burst out. "Lets get over there Uncle Jesse."

"If everyone's up to it, I figured to do that," Jesse nodded and all the kids eagerly spoke their agreement. He had expected that which was why he had already called the Davenport farm and asked Cooter and his cousin's to meet them at the Boar's Nest.

**TBC**

_Please review, the Cricket is hunry………_


	8. The Lovely Lady Sings

**Author's Note: **This story was thought out while me and a friend was having our movie night, and she requested a story that would hold all the Dukes in it. It took some doing, but here they are, every single Duke that I know off, and a bunch of Davenports as well. I hope you all will enjoy it.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix….

* * *

_**A Fine Mess of Dukes**_

Chapter 8 : The Lovely Lady Sings

Since all of the Dukes had missed her performance Loretta had informed them that she would be doing a special performance for them all before she left. Jesse hadn't told the kids that since he figured it'd make a nice surprise for them. He grinned as he got into the car with Jud, thanking his good fortune that not all of the kids saw the need to weld shut any door they saw. He just waited for the time he'd come home and find the front door and back door to the house welded shut. The boys would do that, and climb through the windows.

At least Luke currently had the good sense not to try and climb in that way, after it was pointed out to him he'd risk falling on his face outside the Boar's Nest if he did. Instead he was riding shot gun with Jud and was laughing at something that his brother had said.

When they got there Cooter and his two cousins was already waiting for them outside, Cooter and B.B hiding under the hood of Enos' patrol car while L.B was watching them.

"Hey there," Cooter called as he recognized the sound of the engine. " How ya all doing?"

"We're all doing good," Jesse assured him as Nancy Lou ran over to hug her father.

"Hey there," Enos grinned shyly as he watched them all come over. The young man was still blushing from his head to his toes from the friendly greeting that Loretta Lynn had given him as he pulled up there.

"Hey Enos," Luke grinned. "Something wrong with yer car?"

"It plumb up and stopped on me," Enos explained. "An' the Sheriff wanted me up patrolling cotton ridge, but I can't get there no how till I get it fixed."

"Well don't worry about it, I'm sure Cooter can fix it," Luke grinned as Cooter winked at him. He had a feeling what was going on, Cooter could fix it right away, but he wasn't doing it so that Enos wouldn't have to miss the happenings at the Boar's Nest.

"I'll take care of it later Enos," Cooter promised. "Ain't to bad, just gonna take me a little while, an' I've got some stuff here to see to first."

Grinning he took the confused deputy and pulled him inside with the promise of buying him a tall glass of cold buttermilk.

Loretta Lynn was already in the Boar's Nest and hurried over to them. Recruiting Bo for playing the guitar during her performance and Luke couldn't be happier for his cousin as he sank down at a table to watch with the rest of them. Daisy had settled down on Cooter's lap to watch. Keeping an arm around Enos' shoulder as she did so.

Jesse grinned as he watched the show, he had never really enjoyed any performance by a country and western artist the way he was enjoying this. He had always loved Loretta Lynn and when the boys played her records he had them turn the sound up so he could hear out in the kitchen. This was completely different however, especially since the kids from the orphanage was all there, and they giggled loudly as Loretta sang the song, 'ones on the way.'

Soon the children was looking for better seats as they were enjoying themselves and Jesse had two little one in his lap. A young girl took Coy by the hand and dragged him up to dance. Jeb saw that as his chance and claimed Nancy Lou for a dance. He still thought she was one of the prettiest girls he had met, and he wasn't about to lose a chance like that.

Cooter found he had a gangly boy crawling over him to reach the popcorn on the table, and so he pulled the bowl over to where the kid could reach it. Several of the kids were trying to dance with each others and Loretta could hardly sing for wanting to laugh so hard.

The bank check for the money was handed over to the attendants for the orphanage and everyone in the crowded beer cheered for the ones that had entered in the events to raise it. Jud was cheered for wining the boxing fight and Loretta for her singing.

After that it was officially over, but the Duke didn't put much stock in anything official, so they simply continued. Loretta dragged Luke up on the stage to help with the singing and as Bo was still on the guitar it made him feel great they were there together. Once they finally quit Jesse played his ace in the sleeve of inviting the country star singer to a barbeque out on the farm.

With the promise of ribs, wild boar, corn bread and corn on the cob Loretta didn't need much convincing to follow them out to the farm. There was no real difference between family and friends as everyone ate together and concentrated on having fun. Jesse and Daisy had made several pies for dessert and no one was minded to leave before they were all gone.

Though Cooter got a bit confused, he had always known he was a father, but he had never really had the chance to act like one, so when Jeb took Nancy Lou and disappeared in the moonlight he wasn't sure what to do. Act like a father or like a friend?

Jesse quickly calmed him by assuring him that Jeb might flirt as much as Bo and Luke, but he never broke hearts out of carelessness and Nancy Lou would be okay with him. Agreeing with that Cooter decided that as long as they were back in a reasonable time, it was no problem. If his daughter was falling in love, there wasn't many people better for her to fall in love with than a Duke.

Loretta had to leave since they were moving on the next day, Luke was exhausted and slipped to bed, and the Duke's that was heading back home the next day as well followed and Jesse found himself alone out on the porch. Gazing up at the night sky and sending out a silent thanks for the family that he had, before he went in and followed their example in getting to bed. Soon, he had no doubt his boys would get mixed up in something new, and he would have to be rested then.

The End

Please review, the Cricket is hungry…..


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